Happy Birthday, Feb. 11th, to the world's greatest inventor, Thomas Edison.
One interesting factoid: Edison's first patent, a vote counting machine, was a flop.
"...if there is any invention on earth that we don't want down here," said a committee chairman in 1869, "that is it." Edison's vote recorder was never used. (Source: Edison Papers).So, the notion that people shouldn't invent solely for the sake of inventing isn't exactly new. People needed electric lights, and needed (ok -- maybe wanted) movies, and recordings. As a Florida resident I can personally attest that accurate vote counting is something plenty of politicians still don't want to this day. Our motto: let's remember to make sure our inventions add value while reducing cost.
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